Behringer VT999 Vintage Tube Pedal

The Vintage Tube Monster VT999 effects pedal has that full-tone roar of a tube engine under its hood, letting you take off with anything from warm blues overdrive to heavy distortion.

This high-quality stomp box has the warm sound of a hand-selected 12AX7 vacuum tube. In addition, the VT999 offers an integrated and switchable noise gate with adjustable threshold that keeps your sound noise-free. A status LED for effect On/Off is included, plus there is a true hard-wire bypass for ultimate signal integrity.

With this monster engine, your guitar playing will definitely be kicked into monster overdrive!

zZounds is an authorized dealer of Behringer products.

- Classic tube overdrive pedal based on a hand-selected 12AX7 vacuum tube- Get a whole tube amp in a pedal and take off with anything from warm blues overdrive to heavy distortion- Integrated and switchable Noise gate with adjustable Threshold keeps your sound noise-free- Dedicated Gain, 3-band EQ and Master controls for awesome sound shaping- Status LED for power on/off

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This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
"I Really Think You're Gonna Like This..."

Sound:
This is simply the best starved-plate front-end I have heard yet. This is my first Behringer product, and I have no prejudice against the company as many seem to. I also have built several single- and multi-tube preamps over the years. This pedal's circuit design is a success. The stock tube was unimpressive, bland, and murky; but still not the worst distortion sound I've heard. I substituted an old RCA 12AU7, followed by an old, generic 12AT7. Wow... Each tube completely changed the character of the pedal. The tone controls enabled dialing in the optimal settings for each tone. Mind you, I've had the pedal two days, and I'm running it into a Digitech RP200 (to add a touch of reverb--that's all!) and straight into my PC with its tiny speakers. IMO, this only increases the challenge for the VT999. I was extremely impressed at the variety and musicality of the tones I was getting, with little thought or effort. And I want to emphasize something---many players buy a distortion pedal, crank it to 10, and bang on power chords during their evaluation. Even the WORST products sound decent when you do that. The real test of this type of pedal is when you dial it back and listen carefully to how the sound breaks up as you're just starting to overdrive the tube. Bang a chord and listen as it fades to clean. Such testing separates the good distortions from the wannabes. The VT999 does very well in this department.
Feature:
The VT999 is simple, straight-forward and does what it says. I haven't used the noise gate feature yet, because it is so quiet. It's nice to have, though. Comes with AC power. Sweet.
Ease of Use:
I haven't read the manual yet. No learning curve at all. Just get yourself a Phillips screwdriver and scavenge a few old, used 12A_7-family tubes and do a mess of swap-and-listen sessions. (BTW--forget about NOS tubes at this point -- until you home in on a favorite, just stick in whatever tubes you can find--stuff you may have pulled from Granny's Philco radio, etc. If you find one you really like, THEN worry about hunting down a few NOS tubes of that brand.)
Quality:
Solid construction outside, absolutely adequate and typical inside. Nice spring clamp for the tube. Some find the spring too tight. Mine seemed just right.
Value:
The sound is fantastic. BUT it only does one thing, so I think its typical selling price of around $70 is a bit steep. But IMO it's a pedal you will use a lot, so that must figure into the question of value.
Manufacturer Support:
Unknown
The Wow Factor:
I don't "lust" after equipment anymore...I'm too old. This pedal is not particularly pretty, but it sounds incredible. THAT'S what attracts me to it.
Overall:
If lost/stolen, I would immediately replace this pedal. It makes me want to play, which is high praise. Since it is simply a distortion pedal, it does need some sweetening with back-end EQ and reverb/delay. In my experimenting so far, I'm not sure if I would attempt to use it as a DI box, but that would require more testing. I'm eager to hook it into the effects loop of my Carvin tube amp. If I had to change anything (practical) about it, I'd be interested to hear a version of this pedal with a higher plate voltage. I bought this pedal because I know from experience that low-voltage tube circuits can work, but most are executed badly. The reviews I read told me the VT999 was different.

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"Meets my needs perfectly"

Sound:
I personally love the sound. Again, though, I don't play out. This is not something I use for stage. I bought the VT999 solely to warm up the sound and give me good tone response going into my PC. It performs perfectly in that role.
With the gain on the VT999 around 5 to 8 I can get some rich, luscious, overdriven tube sounds. Less if I only want some crunch, or 10 if I want some full-force overdrive. The noise gate on the VT999 works excellently! And it's very simple to use - just like a basic stomp box. It can be barely noticeable or it can chop up your notes if you like that. I keep it dialed back a little and find that it works very smoothly, but effectively. Admittedly, my EMG pickups go a long way towards a noiseless sound, but the VT999's noise-gate adds a perfect final touch.
I haven't tried replacing tubes as I find that I love the way it sounds in my current arrangement. It responds just like older tube-amps I have used in the past, with beautiful tones and rich harmonics. However, after reading other reviews, I am curious to find out what other tubes can do for the tone. The idea of it being a starved-plate pre-amp is not detrimental to my purposes.
Most importantly, the pedal doesn't suppress my guitar's own tones. Those still come shining through no matter how I have the pedal set.
A huge downer, though, is that you simply cannot get a good clean sound. No matter where I set the gain and volume controls, I either get a mild crunch or the sound drops out altogether.
Feature:
I find all of the features are well thought-out for a 'cheap' pedal. You have the tube - the heart of the sound - and the EQs and noise gate, and of course a master volume. The bypass switch is very smooth - NO POPS!!
Ease of Use:
You have to be an idiot to not be able to use this pedal straight out of the box. You plug it in and set the knobs to whatever you desire. If you've ever used an amp, you can use this thing.
Quality:
Well, the casing is built like a tank. It's solid and nothing rattles.
Yes, the knobs are plastic, but as long as you don't throw out of a 5-story apartment window or let your 4-year-old bang on it with a hammer, it should survive most road use.
Value:
For my purposes, this pedal is a great value.
Manufacturer Support:
Haven't had to use manufacturer support.
The Wow Factor:
Tube-in-a-stomp box ... for under $100.
And it works.
This has earned a permanent place at the front of my guitar chain.
But then ... my name is not Bonnie Raitt or Eric Clapton.
Overall:
I'm not a true guitar player - my thing is keys. I have my own little PC-based home studio (doesn't everyone, these days?) and I compose and record my own stuff. I use Elec Gtr to fill out critical parts in certain blues and rock tunes I record, but I have no stage amp and I never play out.
For me, the VT999 serves as a tube-based preamp going into my PC. I have an old Epiphone Strat-style guitar with EMG active PUs. I go from that into a Boss Compressor/Sustainer (CS3) pedal and then into the VT999. From there, I run it through my Digitech rack processor to add a hint of delay if I want, and then into my PC interface (Onyx Blackbird). I use the guitar channels/effects in my recording software to further fill out the sound as needed.
I personally love how it looks. It has a unique, almost retro appearance. But that really bright blue-LED light does annoy the h#!! out of me.

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